Title: The Invasion of the Tearling [The Queen of the Tearling 2]
Author: Erika Johansen
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Dystopian
Length: 480
Rating: 5 Star
Release Date: June 9th, 2015
Book Series Reviews: 1, 2, 3
Description/Synopsis:
With each passing day, Kelsea Glynn is growing into her new responsibilities as Queen of the Tearling. By stopping the shipments of slaves to the neighboring kingdom of Mortmesne, she crossed the Red Queen, a brutal ruler whose power derives from dark magic, who is sending her fearsome army into the Tearling to take what is hers. And nothing can stop the invasion.
But as the Mort army draws ever closer, Kelsea develops a mysterious connection to a time before the Crossing, and she finds herself relying on a strange and possibly dangerous ally: a woman named Lily, fighting for her life in a world where being female can feel like a crime. The fate of the Tearling —and that of Kelsea’s own soul—may rest with Lily and her story, but Kelsea may not have enough time to find out.
Review – MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
I would like to say a big thank you to HarperCollins through Edelweiss for allowing me to read this book ahead of the publication in exchange for an honest review.
I loved this book. While the other one took a very long time to get anywhere and was pretty mush setup for the series, this one I found moved much faster. Yes, the book is still a slow at times, but stuff is pretty much always happening so you barely notice. Also unlike the other story, we are receiving too very different storylines in the book.
In this book Kelsea takes on the ability, an ability that she cannot control, to have visions of the past. In these visions we see the life of Lily, a woman who lived before the crossing that lead to the creation of the Tearling. I found these parts really interesting. This world we are seeing is so different to the one we get with Kelsea, and I am forever questioning why on earth we are getting told this story and how it will all connect back to Kelsea. It was also really interesting to see the effects it was taking on her physically.
The end to Lily’s story. Wow. Did anyone see that coming? Seriously. I hadn’t a clue at all. Totally threw me off. I liked it for that, but I worry about the direction that is going to make the story go in. When I pick up a book like this that is not really the kind of direction I want it to go in, but I suppose I will have to wait and see how the plot develops.
Now with Kelsea we focus more on this impending invasion from the Mort because she cancelled the treaty by stopping the slave trade. This part of the story moves a lot slower than Lily’s, and while I really liked reading about Lily we seemed to focus more on her than Kelsea and thats just wrong. The here and now are really what we should be focussing on, and because of Lily’s constant interruptions we didn’t move very far in this side of the plot at all. The Mort don’t advance on the Keep until the very end of the book. Kelsea herself seemed to take several steps back in terms of development as well. She snaps out of it at the end, but I am with Mace throughout most this book. She acted like an idiot a lot of the time. I totally understand WHY she had a mental, but still. Her ending to this book is something that I am gushing over. Oh my god. Cliff hangers everywhere! Anyone who has read this book should come to me straight away to discuss them.
We had some some questions answered which I wont go into because of the spoilers, but we still have many that were not. Like who the hell her dad is, where on earth the sapphires/magical necklaces came from and just the general sauce of magic and so on. I like stories that have things unfold throughout the book but at this point I kind of feel like these things are getting left out for the wrong reasons.
It may seem like I have done a lot of complaining in a review which I have given 5 stars, but that just goes to show how much I liked it despite the flaws I have mentioned. It was truly an awesome read and I am so excited for the movie. The wait for the next book might literally kill me. I recommend this book to anyone who even remotely enjoyed the first one. It is still slowish, but much more happens and a lot of things you don’t expect. The writing is amazing.
Till Next Time…